Equal Parts Responsible
by BytesTheDust
Summary: Fitz has won reelection, and Olivia's presidential divorce plan is underway, but the challenges of their relationship still persist. They use the White House bowling alley to reconnect.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is my first piece of fan-fiction ever! There's some struggle smut ahead. I say struggle smut because I'm not sure what I'm doing yet lol.**

* * *

Olivia woke with a start, instinctively aware that she'd overslept during her nap."_A nap?_" She questioned to herself, as she rested in Fitz's bed in the Residence of the White House. Getting her bearings, she wondered aloud, "How did we get here?"

She never got a chance to rest during the day, but Fitz's divorce brought a new found sense of exhaustion. Olivia and Fitz both naively thought that their relationship would be easier after he officially split with Mellie. With Olivia's detailed plan and Fitz's persistence to make it work by any means necessary, they figured their relationship could not be more difficult than it had been in the past. No more secret visits to her apartment, hiding on the outskirts of the Oval, or secret phone calls on burner phones. They could just be. It wasn't Vermont yet; he still had 2 years left in his second term, but it was closer.

They were in phase three of the plan. The divorce had been announced and official one year after Fitz won reelection. Subsequently, Fitz spent 8 months being the first single President. On the ninth month, he went on his first date, set up by Olivia's employees. OPA handpicked and vetted Sarah Michelson, a nice, beautiful, headmaster of one DC's elite preparatory schools. As planned, he went on a few more dates with her, which would be followed by several more dates with a few other distinguished women. He hated it, but he knew it had to be done.

These series of dates presented the first crack in the new stage of Fitz and Olivia's relationship.

* * *

_(Flashback)_

_After the third out of presumably five planned dates with Sarah, Fitz called Olivia as he stepped into the Presidential state car. It would take about 15 minutes to get back to the White House from the restaurant. Fifteen minutes of bliss, as he imagined just listening to her voice. They hadn't talked all day, aside from quick texts checking in. Despite his divorce, much to his dismay, Olivia insisted that they keep some distance to maintain the narrative._

_Olivia answered on second ring. "Hi," she stated anxiously._

_Relieved to hear her voice, "Hi. I missed you," he replied._

_Olivia smiled to herself before asking "How'd it go?"_

_"Okay. I guess," he responded with a sigh, which did not go unnoticed by Olivia._

_"What happened?" she questioned further._

_"Nothing. We talked. We ate. It's just," sighing again. He finished, "It's not getting easier, Liv. I don't want to lead her on"_

_"You're not. Not really. There's no way she actually thinks this is going to last. When it's over you have the best excuse. 'It's not you. It's the job.' She'll feel like a patriot. She'll have the best stories to tell to her friends," Olivia stated, trying to bring him some comfort._

_When she was honest with herself, she realized that she hated it just as much as he did, strangely envious of a woman going on fake dates with the love of her life._

_"I know. I know. It's fine. It was nice though. She had her first glass of Cabernet. She seemed to like it. Billingsley Academy just started this interlibrary loan program with the DC public library system. Great program. She's so excited about it. I can't believe I let Mellie talk me into sending the kids away for school. They would have loved her school." Fitz was rambling. He was tired._

_He quickly realized he needed to avert the conversation. The last time he went into detail about their date, Olivia couldn't hide her jealousy, questioning every aspect of the evening. And Jerry and Karen were another can of worms he did not want to open in this instance._

_"Anyway, I caught a glimpse of your press conference with Senator Simpson this afternoon. I still can't believe you agreed to take him on," he stated with a laugh. "He's such a creep."_

_"He is a creep. But he's a great Assistant Majority Leader, so you should be thanking me, mister. Especially if you want to avoid an unemployment extension"_

_"True. The man can whip votes. I'm not denying that."_

_Changing the subject again he asked, "Did you give my proposition any further thought." He'd been trying to talk Olivia into traveling with him on his Fall trip. He'd be going to five countries in six days, for the sake international diplomacy. Olivia was technically still on payroll, as one of his communication advisors, so he didn't think it would be too much of a problem image wise._

_"Yes. And the answer is still no, Fitz. And I really can't leave with this Simpson thing underway. It could go in any direction. I'm sorry but,"_

_Cutting her off, he curtly replied "I know. It was just a thought."_

_Sensing his annoyance, she tried to pacify the situation, "Fitz. I am sorry, but this is beyond my control."_

_"Is it? Because everything else seems to be within your control. Liv, I'm trying here. I go on these fake dates with a woman I don't care about after spending 10 hours being briefed, reading briefs, and sitting in conference call after conference call. I just want to see you. I thought after the divorce you would want to see me, too. We can be with each other now. Remember?"_

_"Fitz, you know it's not that easy. And this is just a consequence of…" She sighed and continued, "Fitz, we're almost there. Okay. Just a few more months. And we'll be there. I'll be there with you. All the time. So much so, that when you go on your European tours, you'll be excited to get a break from me. Okay?"_

_Exasperated, annoyed, and sick of Olivia's excuses he replied, "Fine. I should go." Barely waiting for Olivia's response, he hung up._

* * *

Thinking back to this conversation, when Fitz essentially hung up on her, maybe that should have been her first indication that despite the divorce, their relationship was never going to be as great as it had been during the first campaign trail, as great as they imagined in Vermont, as great she contemplated every night before bed.

Now, here she was lying in his bed. The next phase of their plan had been announced the week before. After months of "dating" and bachelor life, he'd publicly announced that after spending so much time with "one of his most trusted advisers" their professional relationship was now personal. They were now public, and Olivia could not handle the scrutiny. It was worse than when he outed her as his mistress. It was worse than when the mistress rumors resurfaced during the campaign trail. The speculation and conspiracy theories were too much to take. She had shut down in a way that Fitz had not seen in a while. They hadn't properly spoken in about a week.

Earlier that day Fitz insisted that she come to the residence so they could talk. He expected to be done early, so he insisted on having dinner with her, the meal of choice, at 6:30. Needing to speak with Fitz's new chief of staff, who would be following predecessor Cyrus Beene, she had arrived early. Not wanting to interrupt Fitz at work she went to the Residence, waited on the bed, and must have fallen asleep while anticipating him.

She finally glanced at the time on her cell phone. 7:15 it read.

"Shit." She said to aloud. She was late for dinner with Fitz. "_Why didn't he wake me_?" she thought.

She briskly wandered to the family dining room. Fitz was not there. She checked the living room to no avail. _"The Oval,"_ she thought.

She buzzed Lauren from his bedroom, "Lauren, it's Liv. Is Fitz in his office?"

"No, Ma'am. He should be at the Residence. He's not in the West Wing."

"Okay. No worries. I'm sure I've just missed him somewhere over here. Thanks, Lauren."

Olivia hung up the phone and contemplated where he could be. Being early spring, she knew that it was a bit too cold for him to be on the tennis or basketball courts. The rose garden wasn't in bloom. Thinking quickly, she remembered a conversation they had earlier in the week when he randomly mentioned his excitement about renovations to the bowling alley.

Quickly making her way down to the basement, rounding a corridor, and she heard pins being knocked down. Spotting Secret Service outside of the room, she swiftly made her way inside. Standing at the threshold, Olivia watched Fitz as he rolled a ball perfectly down the alley. She closed the entrance as he made a strike, masking the sound of the door. He hadn't noticed she was in the room yet. She took in his appearance. He'd presumably changed into slacks and a cable-knit sweater. He was still handsome even in his silly bowling shoes. She made her way to him. Feeling a presence, he turned around.

"Hi," she stated as she approached him. "I'm so sorry I missed dinner. Why didn't you wake me? We can still eat? Have you had anything? Are you hungry?" she questioned, with every phrased more hurried than the last.

Feeling her anxiety, he smiled and replied "Hi. It's okay. You were obviously tired. It's fine. We can still eat."

They stared at each other, waiting for someone to make a move to further the conversation.

Olivia knew she owed him an explanation, not for being a late, but for avoiding him, for avoiding them, for shutting down after the announcement.

But she didn't know what to say. She knew she was overacting. She knew that the media scrutiny was to be expected. She wasn't sure what she was afraid of, and frankly she was too busy to figure it out.

"Fitz, I…" she tried to explain, but he cut her off with a kiss.

He grabbed her quickly, running his hands from her waist, down to her hips, and around to the back of her ass. She closed her eyes as she reveled in the touch of his hands on her body, atop her clothes. She kissed him back slowly, gradually giving him access to her mouth as she felt his tongue quickly glide inside.

He picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, feeling the beginnings of his erection. He moved them in front of the newly purchased, plush, leather loveseat. He gently placed her back on her feet and moved to remove her shirt. She stopped him, putting her hand on his chest wanting to put on a show for him. She slowly removed her blouse and pants, standing before him in a black bra and black and gray lace-trim cheeky panties. She pushed him down to sit on the loveseat. She got on to the couch, straddling him and looking into his eyes as he caressed her bottom. He adoringly gazed back at her, staring at the warmest brown eyes he'd ever seen. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she kissed his neck, sucking on his pleasure point. She kissed her way up to his ear, and whispered, "I love you." Her lips made their way back to his mouth where she sucked on his bottom lip.

He moved one hand from its resting place on her ass to the front of her underwear. Playing with the lace-trim edges, he slowly reached inside, cupping her gently. Olivia gasped at the sensation, disconnecting their lips from each other. She closed her eyes, as she felt his other hand reach behind her to unfasten her bra. She straddled him tighter to keep her balance. She reached behind her and helped him remove her bra. Glancing at her bare chest as he continued to stroke her, he laid wet kisses on her collarbone and chest, before taking her nipple in his mouth. She rested her hands in his hair, pulling at strands with every new sensation.

She moaned aloud. The Secret Service standing outside were, as per usual, only an afterthought. She moved her hands to hold his head at her chest, needing him to continue to work magic on her chest. She let go of his face when she felt him insert two fingers inside her.

"Uh Fitz," she moaned in a breath, as she closed her eyes and threw her head back. He held her arched back in place for support and continued to pleasure her with his fingers. It didn't take long before her orgasm ripped through her. Fitz continued to stroke her as she came down from her high. As he removed his hand from beneath her underwear, she opened her eyes and reached to unfasten his belt. He quickly grabbed her hands and held them in place. Olivia gave him a quick look of confusion before he took her face in hands and kissed her, pulling away before either could deepen it.

Smiling at her and then looking down at her thighs he teased, "It looks like someone made a bit of a mess."

Gently shoving his chest with her fingers, "Equal parts responsible, I'd say."

Feeling the mood in the room shift slightly, she moved to get off of his lap to get dressed. He halted her movements, holding her in place in his lap. He stared at her and her partially naked body, in awe of the beauty in front of him. Feeling slightly flushed at his adoration, she rested the side of her face on his shoulder.

Wrapping his arms around her tightly, he whispered in her ear, "We're finally going to be us again, and you don't have to be scared."

Shaking her head in agreement on his shoulder, she moved closer to him, kissed his neck and replied "I know." Moving her head to face him, she continued, "I actually kind of want to bowl."

He chuckled, "I actually kind of want some food."

Smiling at each other as if they'd read one another's minds, Olivia got up to retrieve her clothes.

"Why don't I go freshen up upstairs while you go get us something from the kitchen? We'll meet back here in 20, so you can see how skillful I am at bowling," she suggested as she dressed and he sat watching.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but we don't have a bowling ramp down here, Livvie. There's no way you're winning."

Looking at her feign hurt, he finally got up from the couch and kissed her forehead, "Sandwiches and Champagne sound okay?"

"Perfect." She replied, grabbing his hand as they left the alley, walking the halls of the White House together for the first time as a public couple.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thanks, to all the lovely folks who read and reviewed! I've decided to continue with it, but there probably won't be a cohesive plot. More like thematically related one-shots!

* * *

It was 5 minutes till midnight when Fitz and Olivia finally settled into his bed. Fitz waited for what felt like an hour, but had only been a few minutes, for Olivia to prepare for bed and change into a silk, beige cami and bed shorts. Now that she'd spent the last few weeks consistently at the Residence, her bed routine took less time, but for Fitz it was still far too long. When she finally joined him, he propped himself up on his arm and rested on his side to face her. He loosely wrapped his other arm around her waist, subtly grazing the skin beneath her cami.

"Ready for bed?" he asked, making sure she was ready for him to turn off the lamp on his bedside table.

"Yes," she replied with a yawn. Before darkening the room, he lifted slightly to glance at the alarm clock on the bedside table on her side. 12:02, it read.

With a smirk, he stated, "Happy Anniversary, Livvie."

Raising an eyebrow, she shot him a confused look, "Anniversary?" she questioned.

"Yeah, babe. It's been a month since we went public," he replied with a smile.

Shaking her head, "I don't think that counts," she responded with a chuckle.

Ever the romantic, he challenged, "Well, we have to have a proper start date to celebrate. I say we start fresh."

Thinking about it quickly, "I guess. But normally _**ann**_iversaries, are celebrated _**ann**_ually," she said, emphasizing the words' shared prefix.

"Thanks, for the Language lesson," he stated sarcastically, but in a playful tone.

She moved closer to him and kissed him, her lips lingering near his mouth for a moment.

"Happy one month…" she hesitated for a second, shook her head again and continued, "_**ann**_iversary. Now, can you turn off the light, please? We have to run in the morning," she finished, yawning once more.

It was Fitz's turn to look bemused. He moved a little to get a full glimpse of her face, "We?" he questioned.

"Yes, 'we!' Fitz, you promised you'd run with me."

Genuinely confused, "I did no such thing. You know I hate running, Livvie."

"Oh! Yes, you did. You did such thing yesterday morning," she replied, jogging his memory.

Thinking back to yesterday morning, he vaguely remembered a conversation about exercise during a shared shower, or maybe it was the quickie in the Oval. Either way, sex was involved because that was the only way he could picture himself agreeing to go on a run at, presumably, the crack of dawn.

"Babe, that's not fair to con me into running after sex."

She threw her head back laughing, "I did not _con_ you. I asked very nicely as I toweled you off after our shower," she recalled to him. "You said, and I quote, 'Fine, Livvie, baby, whatever you want,'" she said, mocking his voice.

"And, Fitz, my new running shorts came in the mail today. I want to wear them; you agreed, so we're going," she said in her signature matter-of-fact tone.

"Fine. How short are those running shorts? Will I be able to get a peak of these," he asked as he reached beneath her shorts to grab the cheeks of her ass with one hand, which was met with bare skin.

Moaning softly under his caress, "Maybe," she replied.

Still intrigued by the shorts, he moved his hand back around her waist, and questioned, "Are those the Luckylime shorts, Karen insisted she needed in every color for PE last year?"

Smiling at Fitz's obliviousness and the fact that athletic wear was one of the few things she shared in common with Karen, she replied, "Lululemon. Lululemon."

"Yes. That. I still don't understand why you would pay that much for gym shorts," he said with conviction.

"Don't act like you know how much stuff costs," she replied, smirking.

"I know how much stuff costs!" he responded defensively. Being out of touch with average American was a slight insecurity for him.

"Do you? You know how much gas costs, which I'm going to attribute to OPEC. The Federal Reserve briefing was last week, so I know you're acutely aware of inflation," she joked.

"I know how much things cost, Livvie," he said adamantly.

Knowing he hadn't done much personal shopping in years, she asked "How much is…" she looked around the room, thinking of an object, "How much is a pack of toilet paper?"

"Easy. Two dollars, 3 dollars max," he replied confidently.

"Uh, not you're toilet paper," she replied laughing. "I guess if you bought, maybe, a three pack, one-ply rolls, you could get it for 2 or 3 bucks."

"Wait, how much is my toilet paper?

"If you get a 6 pack, it'd probably be about 6 or 7 dollars."

"Well, I wasn't too far off," he replied bashfully with a yawn.

"Yeah, baby," she said to appease him. "You weren't _too_ far off," she stated, kissing him on the nose for comfort.

"And don't pretend like you're completely in touch with prices. Five hundred dollars is hardly a sale on a pair of shoes, Livvie."

Feeling incredibly tired and knowing that he would finish the conversation if she let him, she agreed, "You're right."

She reached over him and turned off the lamp. Still able to make out his face in the dark, she pecked his lips quickly, "Goodnight," she said before turning to rest her back to his chest, settling in a spooning position.

"Goodnight," he replied, kissing the back of her neck as he held her closely.

* * *

Fitz woke up a few minutes before Olivia, using that time to try to memorize her breathing pattern for sport. With his arm still wrapped tightly around her, he felt her stir in her sleep. He froze in place, not wanting to wake her. Sleeping in the same bed with him hadn't ensured her a good night's rest, unlike times in the past. He chalked it up to the stress of their now very public relationship. The past month, she was better at communicating with him about her apprehensions, but he knew there were aspects that still frightened her and kept her up at night. Despite his carefulness, she woke anyway and turned to face him.

"Morning," she greeted him with semi-open eyes and a smile.

"Good morning, babe," he replied.

Lingering in bed for only a moment, she hopped out of it abruptly before he could protest and stormed into the bathroom.

Hearing the water run, Fitz chuckled softly knowing that she probably waited hours to relieve herself, not wanting to leave the warmth of the bed.

Returning to the room, she joined him back on the bed with equal urgency and settled back into his arms to face him. Looking back at the alarm that displayed 5:44am, she spoke, "Whew! I had to pee so badly."

"You're going to need Depends by the time you're my age, if you don't quit holding your bladder," he responded.

Rolling her eyes playfully, "Yeah, yeah," she replied.

"We need to get dressed for our run, so you're not late for work," she stated.

Hoping she'd over sleep or just forget, he sighed, "Livvie, please," he begged.

Smiling at his childlike demeanor, "No." she stated firmly.

She moved to get up and change, but he held her in place this time. He kissed her neck thoroughly, applying just the right amount of tongue and pressure to drive her crazy. "Fitz," she stated in a whisper, slowly losing her train of thought.

He moved her flat on her back as he continued placing kisses on her neck and collarbone. He moved to rest on top of her, using one arm for support while the other dipped inside the front of her shorts. Her eyes fluttered open and shut and back open when she felt his hand reach between her thighs, two fingers grazing her clit.

Attempting to protest, despite the confirmation of her arousal coated on his finger tips, "We can't, Fitz," she stated in a breath.

He moved his head slightly, staring in her eyes to gauge how serious she was. He stopped his fingers' movements, but when she eagerly thrust her hips forward, he knew she wanted more.

Wanting approval and knowing how dirty talk turned her on, he returned to her neck, "Is this want you want?" He asked as he inserted his fingers inside of her. "Hmm, Liv? You're too wet for me to stop," he spoke onto her neck, kissing her there between phrases.

Contemplating for only a second, she responded with a moan, "Yes, please. Please, Fitz"

The urge to feel him inside of her took place of any concern to run. She hastily pulled her own shorts down, kicking them off completely. She untied his pajama bottoms, and pushed down any material covering his bottom half. She stroked his morning arousal with a cold hand, garnering a hiss against her neck. On a mission, she continued to caress him with one hand.

"Livvie," he called softly, as the heat from his dick warmed her touch. He covered her hand with his own and glided his dick against her clit, causing her to moan out. He entered her slowly, and she wrapped her legs around him. Both were still clothed from the waist up, but it didn't matter; they needed that connection in that instance. Within seconds, they found their normal rhythm of Fitz steadily pounding into her while Olivia met him thrust for thrust. Her lips haphazardly found his, as he used his thumb to stroke her clit. One of her hands found a spot at the back of his neck, holding it in place, while other squeezed and rubbed his ass cheeks.

"Baby," she called out as she neared her orgasm. Clutching him against her walls, she wanted him to climax with her. "That's it, Livvie. That's it," he encouraged. Fitz was starting to lose both focus and rhythm, as she relentlessly clenched his dick with her walls. The sound of his voice was all it took to send her beyond the brink. She cried out to him, calling his name with such intensity, the Residence staff wouldn't have known if she was suffering in pain or exclaiming in pleasure if they heard her. He followed soon after, grunting in her ear, jerking inside of her and rubbing every inch of her body that he could reach. Once her shudders subsided and their wave crashed, he pulled out of her and rested on his back. He dragged his pajama pants back up and pulled her to rest atop his now sweaty, t-shirt clad chest.

She lifted up and straddled his waist, "We're still running, mister."

He released a deep sigh and shook his head.

She reached across him to grab his cell phone on his bedside table. Unlocking the pass code, she went straight to the calendar to read his agenda for the day. "It looks like you have nothing before your 10am, joint briefing with the Veep," she said with a smile. "C'mon, let's get dressed," she continued.

She attempted to pull him up at the same time that he pulled her down to him, jostling her slightly, which caused them both to laugh. Overpowered by him, he brought her closer to his chest. Holding the sides of her face, he kissed her thoroughly, retreated for a moment, and went back to her mouth to give her lips a few pecks.

Moving his hands to her lower half, he gave her bare ass a quick squeeze and looked at her intently for a moment. She had bed head, but still managed to look adorable. Her cami hung a bit off her shoulders and slunk in the front, giving him a peak of the top of her perfect breasts.

He knew that running was one of the few ways she could clear her mind these days, so he smiled before agreeing in a stern tone, "Alright. Let's go."

He sat up with her on his chest and supported her back. She wrapped her legs around him, giggling, as he quickly picked her up and carried them from the bed to the bathroom to prepare for their morning run.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I have to caution and say that there's conflict ahead; however, I'm choosing to write Fitz and Olivia as people who behave as if English is their native language. So they'll use their words to come to a resolution, unlike what happens in the show. **

**Also, to scheeperseden, P.E. stands for physical education (aka P.T. or gym glass outside the states). I didn't properly abbreviate that, so it may have been unclear. **

* * *

Olivia sat in her office overwhelmed by a pile of work that lay in front of her. It was an abnormally busy season at OPA with every politician and organization facing some sort of crisis. First, it was a professional football player who was accused of abusing his fiancé, now it was a judge who was charged with bribery. This week could not get done fast enough for her. Looking at work calendar, she was even more overwhelmed as it indicated that the next two weeks were booked with consultations with new clients, meetings with old clients, press events, and strategy sessions. She gave her personal calendar a once over, making sure all of her planned engagements coincided. She realized that the State Dinner was in a week and Jerry and Karen were scheduled to visit for the weekend.

"Shit," she stated aloud. She completely forgot about their upcoming visit and had absolutely no recollection of the State Dinner. This was the first Dinner she'd be attending as his official date. She'd been in the past as both an employee and a friend of the family, but this time, she'd be on his arm and by his side the whole night. She was simultaneously thrilled and anxious.

"Steph," she called from her office. The team talked her into hiring a personal assistant to help her slightly around the office, but mostly in her individual endeavors. She hired Stephanie, a young Georgetown alumna who'd become incredibly useful.

"Stephanie," she called again with more urgency.

Running into her office short of breath, she emerged. "Sorry, Liv. I was scheduling your conference call with Judge Lee's staff."

"It's fine. I need you to call Lauren at the White House and follow up about a fitting for me with Fitz's stylist for the State Dinner. Also, make hair, nail, and make-up appointments. Talk to Lauren about getting them White House security credentials. I'll likely get ready at the Residence. Make sure I have the guest list emailed to me by tomorrow."

Her heart raced just thinking about all that the State Dinner entailed. Stephanie stared at Olivia as she thought to herself. There was no way she could get everything she needed to get done in the next week and deal with the State Dinner.

She contemplated her schedule quickly. "Actually, scratch all of the State Dinner stuff. I don't have the time for it. I don't even like the President of France." She stated quickly.

"Liv, are you sure?" Stephanie questioned nervously.

"Yes. I really don't have time. You see my schedule. Getting ready for that thing would take half a day. And that's a half day, I can't afford to lose. Don't schedule anything."

She glanced at her wall clock and realized that it was close to 8:00pm. She got up to gather her belongings. "I'll be at the Residence tonight if you need me. Please don't need me," she said with a smile. She breezed past Stephanie to swiftly get to her car.

* * *

It wasn't until she was halfway down Pennsylvania Ave that she realized she was going to have to tell Fitz she wasn't going to the Dinner with him. She didn't even think about him as she hastily canceled the engagement. "It's just a dinner," She thought to herself, partially trying to justify her absence to herself before she told Fitz.

When she finally made her way to the Residence it was close to 8:30. She found Fitz watching Sports Center on the living room television.

She dropped her belongings off in the bedroom before meeting him in the living room.

"Hi," she stated as she entered the room.

"Hi," he replied with a smile.

She made her way over to him and bent down to give him a quick kiss before sitting beside him.

"How was your day?" he inquired as he turned to face her.

Sighing, she replied "It was a day. Busy. Nothing out of the ordinary. How was yours?

"Good. I spoke to Italy's new Prime Minister. She seems very capable."

"That's good. Please tell me you didn't tell her your 'pastatute' joke," she asked in jest. Fitz liked to tell "traditional" jokes, which no one found as clever as he did. When he and Olivia spoke earlier that day, he asked her 'what do you call an Italian hooker?' with the correct response being a 'pastatute.'

Smiling, he stated, "I couldn't think of another word for 'hooker' and 'sex worker' may have a different connotation, so no I didn't tell her."

She lightly slapped his chest. "Fitz, the fact that you even considered it worries me," she said laughing.

"You know I'd never." Changing the subject he continued, "I talked to the kids this afternoon. They seem excited about coming."

"That's great." She responded smiling, but her voice couldn't hide the anxiety she felt at their mention.

Fitz's kids were still a sensitive subject for both of them. The divorce naturally caused some disharmony between himself, Jerry, Karen and Mellie. Teddy was far less of an issue. They'd a arranged a solid custody agreement, and he was still too young to have any awareness of the situation. Mellie and Fitz tried to shelter them from their dysfunctional marriage, but their level of discord was hard to hide. The mistress scandal, rumors, and subsequent media attention didn't help.

Now that he was officially divorced, he worked to mend his relationship with his older children. They were older now and were able to understand that their parents were human and sometimes made mistakes. They were becoming more understanding that his job was all encompassing, and he wasn't neglecting them on purpose.

Their trips to the White House were more important than ever now. He needed them to know that they were his first priority and committed to help them in all of their endeavors.

Olivia wasn't sure where she fit into the equation. It wasn't that Jerry and Karen didn't like her, they just didn't know her that well, especially in their older age.

"I should probably take some of my stuff home while they visit. I don't want to take over their space," she suggested.

He gave her a confused look. "Why? Your things aren't in their rooms or bathrooms. I'm sure they won't mind that your shampoo is in my shower, Liv"

"I'm sure they won't care either, but I just don't want impose on any family time. I don't want to be in your way."

"Livvie, you won't be in the way. I want you here. I want you to get to know them better. They're expecting you."

Sighing, "I just don't think it's a good idea right now."

"Livvie, I've been divorced for well over a year. They are not children anymore. They understand that people move on. It's completely acceptable for them to have more interaction with you than a casual conversation in passing"

"I know that, Fitz. It's just. I don't know what they know or what Mellie's told them. I don't want to have to lie or keep track of lies. It's too much right now."

"They know that I'm in love with you. They know that I've been in love you for a long time. The kids and I have moved past a lot of the hurt and confusion from the affairs and all the lying. You and I have moved past all of the hurt and confusion, so I'm having a hard time understanding why you're avoiding them, avoiding us."

"I am not avoiding us, Fitz. I'm here all the time."

"That's not what I meant. I mean as a family. You know you're going to be their stepmom one day. So, what? You're going to avoid them until then. Or after that too?"

Her heart sank at the mention of "stepmom." Sometimes thoughts of motherhood crept in her mind and she loved the idea of it. Other times, she couldn't bear the thought of it. Her parents were awful. Many parents were awful. She didn't want to be the reason for someone's mommy issues. She didn't want to be the star of someone's therapy sessions.

"Fitz, that's not fair. I've not avoided them. I couldn't even be seen with you in public for months."

"Which was your call by the way. We could have been…" He stopped himself, breathing heavily.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore. I will be here if I can, but honestly, I have a lot of work at the office. It's a miracle I was even able to get here before midnight tonight," she stated.

"Well, I wouldn't want me or my family to inconvenience you," he stated sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes annoyed by what she perceived as pettiness on his part.

Her cell phone rang, breaking the tension. She moved to grab it from the coffee table. She read the name on the caller ID, confused to see Lauren's line on the display screen.

"Lauren, what's going on?" she asked with concern.

"Sorry to call you at this hour. I was hoping to leave you a voicemail. It's nothing urgent. I'm just getting in touch with Fitz's stylist. She's flying in tomorrow and has a couple of dresses from Dior's newest collection. Will you be available in the morning?

"Fuck! Sorry. I apologize that neither Steph nor I got back to you sooner. I'm not going to the State Dinner next week."

Fitz listened on to Olivia's conversation feeling utterly clueless. They had planned for her to accompany him months ago. Though this wasn't their first public appearance, it was their first official government function, and he really wanted her there.

When she hung up with Lauren, he stared at her blankly. "What was that about? You're not going to the dinner?"

She sighed, tossing her phone on the coffee table. "No, I don't think so, Fitz. I'm sorry. It's work. I don't have…"

"Time," he finished for her, shaking his head, massaging his temple.

"Fitz, please. You know how busy work has been the last couple of weeks. This is nothing new."

"Yeah, and this planned State Dinner is not unexpected event either. It's a few hours out of your day, Liv," he stated in a harsh tone.

"A few hours? A few hours?" she questioned him, feeling her temperature rise.

"No it's not a few hours. It's an all day affair. It's spending hours getting my hair done. It's spending hours getting my nails and make-up done. It's spending hours with a fucking stylist getting fitted for a dress that will be splashed over every fucking fashion outlet the next day."

She continued and raised her voice, "It's a DINNER. It's not the first. It won't be last. I am busy. I have a job. I have clients. I have employees. Maybe that's hard for you to understand because you're used to being with a woman whose entire job was to pick the menu and flower arrangements for such an event, who could spend all day pretending this shit even matters."

Shocked at the words coming from her mouth and her level of anger, Fitz got up from the couch. They hadn't fought like this since before his divorce.

He retorted, "'Being with.' Really, Liv? The only woman I've been with and cared about in recent memory is you. So, if by 'a woman whose job is to pick the menu' you really mean 'a woman who can't possibly consider putting the man she loves above her job,' then yes. You're right. I can't fucking understand it.

"Please stop. Do not act like I'm not considerate of you when I spend every free second of my day thinking about you, worrying about you, stressing about your stresses. YOU are the one lacking consideration. You care about my feelings, about what I have going on, only in relation to yourself. You care about me being upset only if me being upset affects you. You can't possibly fathom that a fucking state dinner would take several hours out of my day, because it doesn't take several hours out of yours."

Fitz was shocked by her feelings; he didn't even know what to say. There may have been some truth to her statements, but he had no idea where this was all coming from. This was what frustrated him most about Olivia. She kept her feeling so close to her, never expressing discontent until it reached the breaking point. And once she hit that point, it was like she kept a tally mark of every grievance about him and unleashed it on him unexpectedly.

Between the State Dinner and the kids, the tension had come to a peak. She had enough of this conversation. Knowing that she probably went a step too far, she stated "I can't be here right now. I need to go."

"NO!" His voice boomed through the room. She was taken aback. "You are not leaving, Olivia." "If you need some space, I'll sleep in here. I'll sleep in Jerry's room, but you are not leaving." "We decided that we weren't going to do that anymore. No more walking out or dismissing me. We're not doing that anymore."

She couldn't hold back her tears. She was mad and frustrated. Scared and anxious all at once.

He continued, "I don't want to argue with you anymore. Okay?"

She looked at him intently not knowing what to say. She was so exhausted by this discussion. She knew he was right about not leaving. It wasn't going to make the conversation any easier later. But she didn't know how much more talking she could take.

"I don't want to argue either, but I also don't want to be near you, so yeah. I guess you're sleeping in here tonight."

Olivia rushed out of the living room into Fitz's bedroom. She went into the bathroom and checked herself out in the mirror. Her eyes were bloodshot; her makeup was a mess. She hopped in the shower for what was meant to be a few minutes, but lasted quite awhile, as her thoughts wouldn't escape her. She stood under the showerhead for a few minutes not moving just replaying their conversation. She knew that some of things she said weren't fair. Fitz truly cared about her feelings, sometimes more than she cared about her own feelings. He wasn't always the most considerate when it came to her job and how hard it was. That was in part because he had so much help with his. There wasn't a resource he didn't have at his disposal.

She got out of the shower, completed her nightly rituals and sat on the bed, staring ahead of her. She finally looked at the clock and realized nearly an hour and a half had gone by since she stormed out on Fitz. Knowing that neither of them would sleep if they hadn't come to some resolution, she went back to face him in the living room, but was meet with an empty space. She went to Jerry's room and still couldn't find him.

She sighed aloud. "I'm not in the mood for Fitz's version of 'Where's Waldo' tonight", she thought to herself.

She heard he security bell beep, indicating that a main door had been opened. She looked down the hall to the main entrance, but no one came in. She moved towards the Yellow room and heard shuffling and a door close. Making her way inside the Yellow Room, she saw Fitz through large glass windows, sitting outside on the Truman Balcony. Relieved, she made her way to him.

He looked just as distressed as she did. He'd changed into pajamas too and was now nursing a scotch.

"How long have you been out here?" she asked.

"About an hour. I just went inside to refill," he replied with a sigh, holding up his tumbler.

She sat down beside him and started, "Fitz, I'm sorry. I can't take back what I said, and most of it I didn't even mean. And I know how much you care about my feelings. And you're always so considerate, and…"

Her voice cracked and she couldn't help but to release a new set of tears, feeling overwhelmed with all of her thoughts and frustrations. She averted her eyes, not wanting him to see her cry, trying to figure out what to say.

He set his glass down and cupped her face in his hands, "It's okay. I'm sorry, too. It's not fair to put so much on you, when you're basically a one woman army. Everyone relies on you. I understand."

He released her face and continued, "It's just. I don't want to feel like you're closed off to me. Liv, you keep everything so close to you and then release it in these tirades, and I can't…I'm not blaming you. But when I causally bring up the State Dinner or the kids and make it seem like it's not that big of a deal, it's because you've given me no indication that it is big deal to you, until it's blown up in our faces."

She listened to him intently, and also thinking about her feelings. The issue with the State Dinner was honestly less about her being anxious about their relationship and more about her being busy. They'd moved past her feeling scared and doubtful about being public. It was a matter of timing.

As if he'd read her mind, he stated, "If you don't want to go to the State Dinner, because you're busy that's fine. If you don't want to because you're scared, that's not fine. There's nothing to fear. We don't have to hide. I can't imagine how often I need to tell you this before you understand."

"I know, Fitz. It's just a bad time. That's all. I honestly can't make it work next week."

"Okay," he agreed. "That's completely fine. I'm sure Karen would love to go. She'd get more time off of school. I can have some daddy-daughter time," he said with a smile, thinking about sharing moments with his child.

The kids were a topic she was not willing to tackle tonight. Despite his spill, about being emotionally closed off, her motherhood fears would have to sit at the backburner for another time. But considering that they were real fears and something she needed to address, she figured she needed to compromise.

"I'll be here this weekend with the kids. Since I'm not going to the State Dinner, I'll have more time to work. I'll be here all weekend, if you want me here."

Smiling, he grabbed her hands in his and kissed them. "You know I want you here."

She got up from her chair, moved in front of him and pulled him up. She pulled them closer to the balcony railing, looking out on the South Lawn. He wrapped his arms around her as he stood behind her. He moved her hair to one side of her neck, to nuzzle her skin. He placed wet kisses there, enticing a long moan.

Turning around to face him, she wrapped her arms around his neck; she looked into his eyes before taking his lips in hers. She kissed him with so much passion and adoration, feeling so lucky to be standing in the arms of a man who was patient with her and her feelings.

She broke the kiss and moved her hands down his chest, massaging him. His arms hung low on her body kneading her bottom through her pajama pants. He smiled down at her, feeling equally lucky to have her.

She knew that he simply needed to feel that she was open to him. And wanting to give him what he desired, she whispered, "I need you so much."

A little surprised by her vulnerability, he pulled her even closer, and she rested her head on his chest. "You have me, baby," replied before kissing the top of her head.

* * *

It was finally nearing the end of the week. As promised, Olivia planned to spend the weekend with Fitz, Jerry and Karen. She caught up on some work and arrived back at the Residence earlier than normal. They had established a nice routine in the last few weeks. Olivia would meet him in the Residence; they'd bicker about dinner choices, work from their tablets, and catch up on reading or watch television. It was the normalcy they both wanted. This night was no different. She entered the main entrance and dropped her belongings off in the bedroom. Of course, Fitz was nowhere to be found.

She called out to him from the main hallway "Fitz," she said projecting her voice.

"In the Lincoln room," she heard faintly.

She poked her head in the bedroom and found him sitting on a camelback sofa nearest the window.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked with a smile.

"Karen wanted to Face Time, and I kept dropping the call. I thought it was the signal, but I think it's just the phone."

"Oh. Well, you'll get to see her face-to-face tomorrow," she said excitedly as she sat on the edge of bed.

"Indeed. I think they'll be here by dinner time," he said as he joined her on the bed.

"I'm scheduled to get off early. Maybe I can stop by that cupcake shop Jerry like's on the way home."

"You, off early? How'd you get the boss to agree to that?" he asked playfully.

"Yeah. Well, she agreed that I needed some R&R with the family," she stated playing along.

Hearing her say 'family' made his heart swell. He took her face in his hands and gave her forceful kisses. She grabbed the back of his neck, slowing it down. Relishing in the feel of his lips on hers, she slowly gave him her tongue, and he accepted it. She pulled away before they got too carried away.

Not wanting to lose a connection with her, he grabbed her waist, and rolled him fully on the bed.

"Fitz!" she yelled out with laughter, trying to adjust to the sudden movement.

He rested them on their sides so that they could face each other. He kicked off his shoes and she followed suit.

Mirroring each other, they both propped themselves up on their arms. She threw her leg over his, bringing them closer.

"So, what do you have planned for us?" she asked.

"I was thinking maybe we could go see the Wizards play? I think that band Karen likes is playing somewhere around town.

"What band?"

"I don't know, Livvie. One Route, 12 Steps," he replied with a sigh.

"It pains me how little you know about pop culture," she said laughing.

She continued, "If you mean One Direction, which I'm pretty sure you do, you've seen them perform before.

He tried to think of past events. To no recollection, he asked, "Where?"

"The Kennedy Center Honors last year. They honored some rock band, remember?

"Some rock band? I think you're referring to Big Star. It pains me how little you know about classic rock," he retorted.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to teach me," she said in a flirty voice.

Riled by the tone of her voice, "I've got something I want to teach you alright," he said as he grabbed her hand and moved it to his crotch.

"Do you, now? Because I think I know all of your moves," she stated, as she massaged his member over his slacks.

"We'll see about that," he said as he moved on top of her, kissing her face all over.

He moved to pull off her top, grabbing it from the bottom. She sat up slightly to help him remove it from over her head, revealing a navy blue balconette bra he'd never seen before.

"Is this new? He asked as he kissed the top of her chest.

Surprised that he'd noticed, she responded, "No. It's very old actually. I haven't been home enough to do laundry."

He kissed his way back up to her neck, sucking on it and leaving wet kisses.

"Fitz, we should…"

"Please don't say 'stop'," he groaned, cutting her off.

She moved his head to face her, "finish this in your room,"

With her hands at the sides of his face, he shook his head no. "I should be able to have you wherever I want you because once the kids get here…"

She raised an eyebrow, "You're not going to touch me once the kids are here?" she asked, not letting him finish.

He went to the other side of her neck, laying kisses up and down it. He came back to meet her face and looked at her closely.

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying I won't get to nearly as much as I usually do, and considering you have no deference to inside voices, Livvie, it's probably the respectable choice.

"I am not that loud," she said laughing, wrapping her legs around him to hold him in place.

He raised his eyebrow at her and smirked, "You're never quiet."

"I'm always quiet in the Oval." She retorted. He shot her a look, indicating that he was unconvinced.

"I'm quiet sometimes in the Oval," she corrected herself.

Ready to stop talking, he kissed her firmly on the lips. He sucked on her bottom lip and then slowly inserted his tongue into her slightly open mouth.

There were too many materials separating them, he broke their kiss and lifted himself up, causing Olivia's legs to unwrap around him.

Olivia panted heavily as she watched him remove his shirt, pants, briefs, and socks.

Once he was completely naked, he worked to finish undressing Olivia, throwing her pants on the side of the bed.

She lay before him in just her bra and panties. His now raging erection twitched at the sight of her.

As he moved to take off her underwear, she noticed that the door was still open.

"Fitz, the door," she stated in a whine.

"There's no staff around. Just Secret Service,"

Satisfied with that response, she lifted up so that he could remove her underwear. Sopping for him, she could never understand how Fitz aroused her so quickly. Squeezing her breasts over her bra, he moved his hand around to unfasten it at the back. Moving the straps past her shoulders until it was against her chest no more, he tossed it with a pile of the garments at the side of the bed.

Now that they were both entirely naked, he moved completely off the bed. She gave him a confused look, and he met her stare with a mischievous glance.

"Come here," he stated firmly.

Loving the tone of his voice, she moved quickly to the edge of bed, sitting up straight, her legs dangling on the sides. He positioned his body between her legs, cupped her jaw and sucked on her lips.

She moved her hands between their bodies to grab his dick. She moved her hand up and down his member, eliciting a loud groan.

Needing him to be inside her, she moved to wrap her legs around him, but Fitz moved faster, slapping her hand away from his erection, kissing her once more. He pulled her to her feet, making her stand in front of him. He kissed her while they stood, wrapping one arm around her and resting his hand on her lower back.

"Turn around," he demanded.

She did as told, facing the bed with her back to his chest. She rubbed her ass slowly against his dick, causing him to grunt loudly. He pushed on her back, and she bent over the bed knowing how he wanted her. He squeezed her ass before sliding inside of her.

"Fitz," said in a gasp.

He moved in and out of her slowly at first and then drove into her at a rapid pace.

This position always turned Fitz into something of a detective, consistently asking her questions and adamantly demanding responses. In retrospect, she always found his line of questioning to be funny, but in the moment it was the hottest interrogation she'd ever experienced.

This time was no different. "That feel good, Liv? Huh?" he asked. Not waiting for an answer, he continued, "It feels good to me."

Her breathing was staggered as he thrust in and out of her. "You like this don't you?"

"I want you to come harder than when I tasted you this morning. Can you do that for me?"

Moaning and whimpering, she did her best to nod with her head against the comforter.

He couldn't decide what he wanted to do with his hands. They moved from her ass, to her hips, on her back, in her hair, around her neck. She loved any place he touched her.

He bent over her to kiss her down her back, still maintaining a quick, steady rhythm.

"I love the way you take it, Liv. You know that?"

Coming back up, he reached to stroke her clit with two fingers.

"Uh baby, pleeeaase," she begged.

"Keep going, please keep going," she requested in a whine.

"Like this, huh?" He asked as he quickened his pace on her clit.

"Just like that. Fitz, it feels so good."

With a few more thrusts and flicks over her clit, she reached her climax. "Fitz, Oh God," she said continually while she fisted the comforter.

Trying to regulate her breathing, she looked back at him and saw that his eyes were closed, and his breathing was becoming erratic. Wanting to help him find completion, she grinded hard on his dick. He wanted to delay his nearing orgasm, loving the feeling of being inside of her. In his mind, no woman could bring him as much pleasure, in any capacity, as Olivia did. He thrust into her slowly, but he couldn't hold it off any longer. He pulled her hair and held her waist, calling her name so loudly the sound bounced off the walls, as he came violently inside of her.

Once he loosened his grip around her waist, she moved further on the bed, pulling him along with her. Facing each other, they settled on top of the comforter. Olivia moved her face close to his and rubbed her nose against his nose, her lips against his lips before finally kissing him sweetly.

"And I'm the loud one," she stated, smiling against his lips.

* * *

**AN2: So there you have it! This chapter is pretty long, but I figured if you endured 2,000+ words of conflict, there should be a payoff. I tried to make their argument seem reasonable within the context of the show, but also show their relationship progress. Hopefully that came across. **


	4. Chapter 4

Fitz sat on a chaise in his bedroom waiting for Olivia to finish getting dressed. She walked out of his closet, which now housed many of her suits, blouses and dresses, in tights and a bra. Her hair and makeup were done to perfection. Though she looked beautiful in her natural make-up and loose curls, Fitz was annoyed to see her only partially dressed.

Fitz looked at his watch and back at her. "Liv, what are you doing? We need to be leaving in the next 20 minutes and you're not even dressed yet."

"I am almost ready. How long do you think it's going to take for me to throw on a dress?"

"_A half an hour too long,"_ he thought to himself

They were headed to Nashville for a speaking engagement at a middle school and subsequent pricey, private Republican fundraiser. He'd asked Olivia to accompany him, and since she still felt a little guilty about bailing on the State Dinner, she'd agreed to go. Since the fundraiser was scheduled to end late that evening, they planned to stay the night in Music City.

"What is that tie? There's no way you're wearing that tie," she stated matter-of-factly.

Smiling, he adjusted the synthetic, glen plaid, periwinkle tie. "I am. Karen gave it to me for Christmas. I want to be photographed in it, so I can email her the picture."

Chuckling at his elaborate tie plan to appease his daughter, she went to his side of the closet and picked out a more subdued satin, navy blue Purple Label tie.

She returned from the closet. "It's sweet that you think you're wearing that, but it's not happening. Here, Mr. Lauren has never done you wrong," she said handing him the new tie.

Knowing that she was pretty serious and would not take no for an answer, he started to remove it from around his neck.

"Wait," she said, grabbing her phone from its spot on the dresser. She took a picture of him in Karen's tie. She sent it to her in a text reading, **"Your father LOVES his tie! We miss you. :)." **

She put the phone towards his face so he could read the message. "Happy?" she questioned with a smile, before setting the phone back down.

He was content, and in more ways than one. He loved that Olivia felt comfortable texting his daughter.

"Yes," He lifted his head up so that she could swap ties. Once she finished, she clung to it for a moment, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him.

He wrapped his arms low around her waist. "You excited about today?" he asked trying to gauge her mood about their agenda for the day.

"Not particularly. I'm excited about seeing those kids at the school, of course. The fundraiser? I could think of a better way to spend my Friday," she replied honestly.

This would be her first outing with his colleagues. Tickets for the dinner event were $15,000 to $75,000 a plate. The governor of Tennessee was a close friend of his, and there would be a few senators in attendance from the state as well as the bordering state of Kentucky. Their wives would be there, too, she assumed. She was actually dreading this more than she was letting on, but there was no use in showing it. She agreed to go so she would make the best of it.

"It will be fine. Now go. Finish getting ready," he demanded, slapping her butt.

She went back to the closet to pick out shoes, trying on a pair and then removing them. She'd try on another pair and find something wrong with them. This pattern continued for much longer than it normally did. She was thinking a million thoughts at once, but the one that was most prevalent was, strangely, Mellie. She knew from years of working with Fitz, that Mellie, despite herself, was amazingly good at these types of events. She could play pretend like no other. Feigning happy and excited and in love with a man that didn't want to touch her with a ten foot pole. Olivia could hide her emotions. She could mask her feelings very well, but something about this event brought out a serious set of nerves.

Fitz noticed her fumbling around with her shoes. Noticing the mess she was making, he stood at the closet doorway and stated, "Baby, now's not the time to start a Goodwill pile. I've been trying to get you to do this for weeks. And _these_ are just the shoes you have _here_."

She gave him a small smile, but her eyes couldn't hide her nervousness.

He looked further into the closet, and he saw the mess she made of her dresses. Assuming the worst, he sighed and said "If you tell me you're not going, I think I might just…"

She cut him off. "Fitz, I'm going. I'm just trying to find something to wear. These dresses are either too date night or too Easter Sunday," she stated in an annoyed tone.

He knew that this was this was not true. Olivia had the perfect outfit for any occasion. When she had time to shop, he'd never know, but he was certain she could find a dress.

"Well, I'm sure we could stop and get you a dress. We can go by your place. I'm sure there's something there," he offered.

"Liv," he started, trying to choose his words carefully. "You will look perfect in anything you wear. You've been to these events before. There will be minimal press. You'll be fine in anything."

Picking up on her apprehension, "Livvie, what's going on?" he asked as he made his way inside and sat on the small circular sofa in front of a three-way mirror. "C'mere," he directed, waving her over to him.

She sat sideways on his lap, wrapping an arm over his shoulder. "I don't know, Fitz. I'm trying to not make a big deal out of this, but I'm really uncomfortable. There are going to be political wives there. And I can handle political wives when I'm working, when I'm fixing their husbands' problems, but, babe, I'm not one of them."

"I mean, what are we supposed to talk about? What if they ask me about our relationship? When we met? How you went from being my boss to my boyfriend? What if they want to know about my job? I can't talk to them about that. I can't talk to anyone about that. God, there will be supporters there. I'm sure they love that their tax dollars are going to towards 'Shacking up, paying for the presidential girlfriend,'" she said, sarcastically quoting a recent tabloid exposé detailing what it cost to have Olivia spend so much time at the White House. It was mostly untrue. Those expenses would be charged whether Olivia was there or not. Any expense that Olivia might incur, Fitz made sure he was properly billed for it.

She continued on her tangent. "And Mellie was so good at these things. She probably stole the show." Here was the Mellie thing again, except she said it out loud this time. But saying it out loud made her realize part of the problem. It wasn't that Mellie was better at pretending at these events. It was that she knew that Fitz was at ease with Mellie at his side. Because she was such a masterful manipulator, she knew what to say and who to say it to. She could score big deals through casual conversation. She hated comparing herself to Mellie, and rarely ever did, but she just couldn't help it in this moment.

Taken aback by all that she unleashed, he stated, "Okay. Take a breath." Waiting for her to do so, he continued, picking up on her train of thought, "If you think for a moment that I would want Mellie by my side instead of you, then you don't know me as well I thought you did. Livvie, when we went to these events in the past, I dreaded it not knowing what lie Mellie would tell next or what lie I needed to keep up with. The only reason we looked like a decent couple at these events is because of your coaching."

He looked up at her to read her face and continued, "I'm not sure who's all going to be there, but, baby, you don't have to talk to them about anything you don't want to. You don't have to tell them about us. Just mention whatever you feel comfortable with, okay?"

Sighing, she realized how silly she was being. She turned in his lap to straddle him. "You're right. I just…I don't know."

He leaned up to kiss her, caressing her thighs covered in tights.

"You're the best man," she stated after breaking the kiss.

"You're the best woman," he replied. "I think you should go with that one," he suggested pointing to a blue and red dress that she'd already had in mind, as it was the perfect dress to wear sit with kids for a few hours.

She bit her bottom lip and shook her head yes in agreement. She got up from his lap, and he helped her change before leaving the Residence to head to their destination.

* * *

The school event went without a hitch. The kids were so excited to meet the president. Their school choir preformed for them, and they all seemed so inspired to hear him speak, telling stories about his time in middle school and sharing stories of his own children. Olivia was happy to be there and was truly feeling better about the fundraiser.

They changed into more formal attire. Olivia wearing a long black gown that hugged her in what Fitz believed to be all the right places. They arrived several minutes after most of the guests did for security purposes. Olivia still wasn't used to being by his side for all the attention he received. Even though she'd staged grand entrances for him and watched from the sidelines, she was still slightly overwhelmed by it.

They were seated as planned next to the Governor, his wife, and two senators from the state as well as a prominent House member and her husband. Fitz was also planned to speak briefly at this event. They sat at a round table in the front of the room, away from the main guests. The conversation was light and predictable until Senator's Logan wife, Beverley, asked Olivia the dreaded question.

"So, Olivia, you worked so brilliantly on the reelection campaign," Beverly complimented.

"Oh. Thanks. It was really a team effort. And such amazing donors. We were able to outspend the Dems in ad buys by almost 75%" she stated humbly.

"Well, we might have to hire you for our bid, right honey?" Her husband shook his head slightly embarrassed by his wife's presumptuousness regarding his White House ambitions.

"Yeah, well, give us a call. You know where to find us," Olivia placated.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, how did you two get together? You're such a sweet couple." she inquired, masking her nosiness with a compliment and a sweet southern drawl.

"Uh…we umm…just knew…"Olivia started to stumble out. She was a master at words, yet couldn't think of the proper verbiage.

Fitz stepped in, though he was having a different conversation with the senator seated next to him. He could hear Olivia become flustered.

"Well, Bev, we just spent so much time together. Actually, it was one night when she was helping me with the phrasing of a speech. It was really late. We were exhausted, but she wanted to hash it out. I was stuck on a line, something like 'for the sake of our children's future'"

Olivia absentmindedly corrected him, "to ensure that our daughters' have a better tomorrow."

He shook his head in agreement, smiling at her. "Yes," he continued, "That was line we ended up with. Well, we just joked the whole night, and, gosh, laughter was something I'd been missing in my life after the divorce. That's when I knew that I wanted to try and take things further. She was so smart and witty and made me think quickly. I don't know. One thing lead to another and here we are. The happiest I've ever been."

This was sort of true. They did share that moment together, but he was already in love with her. However, it was one of those moments that make you fall in love all over again. It's when he knew without a doubt that he wanted her to have his daughters. This moment was also followed by some of the best sex of their relationship. He'd always remember it.

Surprised by his answer, his candor and his charm, "Olivia, grabbed his hand under the table and smiled at him, grateful that he'd stepped in for her.

That answer more than satisfied Beverley. "That is just the sweetest thing," she gushed in her southern accent.

Representative Smith inquired, "Olivia, that speech was yours? It was so amazing. It's just what the base needed to appeal to women."

"Well, that line was mine," Olivia responded wanting to be modest.

Fitz spoke up. "It was her, and you're right. It was amazing," he complimented her, looking at her with pride and adoration.

Representative Smith changed the subject entirely though she still kept the attention on Olivia.

"Olivia, I have got to say, and I don't want to be a gendered stereotype, but I just love your style. Every time we see pictures of you with the president in my office we just sing your praises. I want to shop with you sometime," she joked.

Flattered, Olivia responded, "That's such a nice thing to say, Representative Smith…"

"Please, call me Jackie," the representative corrected.

"Jackie, that's so kind. You should give me a ring the next time you're free from the Hill."

Jackie and Olivia continued talking mostly to themselves for the duration of the night. They both admired each other's work ethic. Being from arguably the Reddest of the Red states, she knew they differed on many things politically, but Olivia was surprised by her warmth and lack of judgment.

When Fitz overheard them talking about personal habits, his ears perked up.

"Every time I walk in that bathroom and the towel is on floor **under** the rack, I think 'how lazy could you possibly be.' It's just a movement away from putting it in the right spot," Jackie complained.

Laughing, Olivia shook her head in agreement. "And the socks kill me, too. I'm always saying 'Babe, the hamper is right _there_,'" she replied.

"Don't get me started on the ties. I have bought this man at least two racks, yet those ties hang from the closet doorknobs until I move them," Jackie complained jokingly.

Olivia continued laughing and topped off a glass of wine. She looked at Fitz at the mention of ties because their earlier fashion crisis. Looking back at Jackie, she added "Oh! And their inability to pick the right one kills me. It's the one accessory they have, and they still can't get it right."

Fitz loved how happy she seemed and how candid she was being. He was so excited to have her there and even more excited to get her back to their hotel.

* * *

They arrived at their Executive King suite of the hotel. The hall was exceptionally quite as they blocked it off for Fitz's arrival. They changed into pajamas and lay on the hotel's King sized bed. Fitz was shirtless in plaid pajama bottoms. Olivia cuddled next to him in a silk, light blue chemise with a white sleep cardigan. This felt reminiscent of their times on the trail during the first campaign, except there was no guilt, tension or sadness.

Fitz grabbed the local newspaper that they'd requested be sent up, and just like old times, they read the paper together and laughed at some of the random local stories.

She rested on his shoulder and played with his chest hair as he read aloud a story about a 10 year old boy who stole a car so that he could use a coupon to get a bucket of fried chicken. Fitz was laughing so hard, he was barely able to get the words out as he finished the last paragraph.

"….he was apprehended and released," Fitz finally managed to get out in between laughter.

"Fitz, it's not funny," Olivia stated, despite her own laughter. "What if he was really hungry and needed food? What if he was poor?"

"Liv," Fitz started, "It says that he crashed his mom's 2013 E-Class. I think they're fine on money," he consoled.

"But can you just imagine his excitement over the thought of getting KFC only to crash a few miles down the road," he said laughing.

"I almost stole my dad's car once. I was home from boarding school and didn't want to be at our house. I almost stole it when he was sleeping, but my conscious got the best of me," she recalled.

"Oh I stole plenty of Big Jerry's cars," Fitz declared boastfully." They were so nice, and I thought I was so cool. I never got caught except this one time. Strangely enough, I had my own car at the time. I was in college. Jerry had this new Maserati, and I wanted to drive it so badly, but he'd never let me. I was home from school one weekend, and just took it, wanting to impress some girl."

"What girl?" Olivia asked genuinely curious.

"Some girl I'd gone to high school with who got really pretty during college," he replied. "I never paid her any attention until I saw her one night in a bar. She ended up giving me rode hea…" He stopped himself before he could finish, but Olivia caught on.

"She'd given you what, now?" she asked smiling, innocently pretending like she didn't hear.

"She ended up giving me a ride home," he started in lie.

"Nooo. That's not what you said," Olivia accused playfully. She finished for him. "She'd given you rode head. Huh? Was it good?" she asked still genuinely curious.

He smiled down at her, "I honestly can't remember," he said.

But the tone in his voice was a dead giveaway. Olivia knew him well enough to know that some experiences he'd never forget.

"Oh you don't remember?" she questioned, clearly unconvinced.

A very small part of her was a little jealous that some girl had clearly pleased her man so well he could still remember it decades later.

Moving to his waist quickly, she took off her cardigan. She pulled his pajama bottoms and boxer briefs all the way down. She stroked his member, bringing it to life.

She moved down his body until she was comfortably between his legs. "Did it maybe feel something like this?" she asked before laying wet kisses up and down his stiff penis.

"Or maybe like this?" she questioned then licked him at the tip, teasing him, swirling the head with her tongue.

"I'm sure it didn't feel anything like this," she stated before taking him entirely in her mouth.

"Livvie," he grunted, alternating between resting his hands on her shoulders, her back, and in her hair, trying desperately to control the pace.

She relentlessly sucked on him, taking him deep in her mouth, releasing him only to the edge of her lips and taking him fully again.

"FUCK, Livvie!" he exclaimed. But his cries did not deter her from her goal. She wanted to make him come so hard, he'd forget about some random hook up he had as an undergrad, even if it was only for a moment.

It didn't take long for him to succumb to her will, lifting up off the bed, as he came in her mouth with intensity. As if his come was made of liquid gold, she swallowed his endless stream.

Pleased with herself, she moved to straddle his waist again. As soon as he could reach her, he grabbed her for a long, tongue filled kiss. She pulled away, and he massaged her breasts through her nightgown, wanting some form of a connection. She didn't need confirmation on who was the better sexual partner. They both knew that they were it for each other.

She stared at him lovingly. Her mind went from one thought to the next. Thinking about the day's events and how charismatic he was, she stated, "You were so good today." She leaned her forehead against his. He moved his hands to her bottom, massaging her there, now. "Thank you for coming. It meant a lot," he replied.

She lifted her head slightly and shook her head no.

"You don't have to thank me," she started. She continued, "But you." She paused to kiss him quickly and continued, "are." She stopped and kissed him again, lingering a little bit longer. "Very welcome," she said, finishing the sentence with a smile.

* * *

**AN: This particular news story is obviously "Doing hood rat stuff with my friends" inspired. That video will be funny until the end of time, and that phrase will forever be a part my friend group's lexicon lol. **

**This story, however, was inspired by Justafan51's comment about liking to see Olivia out of her comfort zone. After reading that, I tried to think of scenarios that would likely make her uncomfortable. I settled on the idea of her having to spend time with Fitz, in a more intimate setting than a State Dinner, around people who are used to seeing him closely interact with Mellie, and have probably speculated about his relationship with Olivia. **

**I hope y'all enjoyed! **


	5. Chapter 5

Sitting at his desk in the Oval, Fitz could not believe the day he was having. The latest international debate, whether US intervention was needed in an Arab state's political demonstration gone awry, was coming to a head. Unemployment numbers hadn't dropped as low as they were projected, and Congresses still couldn't reach an agreement on next year's budget. This was just a Tuesday for him. He was used to these sorts of dilemmas. Though it was part of the job, it didn't make it any less stressful. He knew the phone call waiting for him was going to add insult to injury.

"Mr. President, she's on line 2," he heard Lauren say through the phone's intercom.

He picked up the phone with an enormous amount of dread. "Mellie," he stated disinterestedly.

"Fitz, hello to you too," she replied sarcastically.

"What do you need, Mel? You watch the news. You know how busy I am. Please, tell me what couldn't wait until I get off in 20 minutes."

"It's Teddy," she replied. He'd figured as much. Mellie knew not to call the Oval unless it was related to their children.

"What's wrong? Is he sick? I just had the little guy this weekend," he said.

"No, Fitz. He's fine. Couple of things. We have that preschool meeting on Thursday. I asked Lauren if it was on your schedule and she said 'no.' Fitz, you need to put that on your schedule. We have to be there."

This was the first he'd heard of a preschool meeting. Teddy was starting pre-Kindergarten in the Fall and he knew they needed to checkout schools together. He also knew that Mellie had not mentioned this before. She always did this. She'd make appointments, never tell him, and then suddenly bring it up and act is if he'd forgotten. Fitz was not in the mood for these games today.

"Well, this is the first I'm hearing of a school meeting. It's not on my schedule because you didn't tell me about it." He checked his calendar to see his Thursday events. He had a Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting all day.

Sighing, he continued, "I have Joint Chiefs on Thursday. There's no way to get out of it. So you'll have to go by yourself or reschedule. Considering that you're just telling me about this now, I'm sure you want to go alone anyway."

"Fitz, you know I want…"

Not in the mood for her lies, he cut her off, "What's the other thing? You said you had two reasons for calling."

"I was wondering if we could switch one of your weekends for a couple of weekdays in a few weeks. I was thinking instead of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we could do Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. His grandparents and aunts are meeting in Asheville; there's a ceremony at the Biltmore House, and because we're donors, we'll need to make an appearance."

Fitz was becoming infuriated by the second. Their custody agreement was meticulously arbitrated. Because Fitz often worked on weekends, Teddy visited every other weekend. This arrangement would only last until the end of Fitz's term. Once his term ended, Fitz would have him every weekend. They picked weekends instead of summers because Fitz wanted to have a constant stay in his son's life. Mellie agreed to stay in the area, in Alexandria specifically, so that she'd be a drive away from DC and an hour and a half flight away from North Carolina. Weekends were also conducive to Fitz's work schedule. There was no use in Teddy staying during the week because Fitz knew he'd only have time to tuck him in before bed. He'd be with nannies all day.

"Absolutely not, Mellie. I am sorry. I think it would be great for him to see his grandparents, but not on my weekend."

"Fitz, please…"

Cutting her off again, "Mellie, no. Do you know how much we paid to reach this agreement? We have it in place for a reason. It's worked for this long, and I don't think it's smart to change it up because you're slightly inconvenienced. You'll just have to go without him. You can Sykpe or Face-Time us, and he can see his grandparents that way."

"It's one weekend. You are being unreasonable. If you wanted to switch days, I'd let you," she replied.

Fitz knew this was a lie and was in no mood to go back in forth with her. "Sure, you would. You've always been so accommodating in that way," he stated sarcastically. He finished, "The answer is no. It will be 'no' tomorrow. It will be 'no' the next day, and it will be 'no' two weeks from now. I have to go. Call me on Friday about the school meeting. Goodbye." He hung up the phone.

He looked at his clock and realized that his conversation lasted longer than he'd imagined. It was almost time for him to leave. The only saving grace would be seeing Olivia.

* * *

Olivia waited for him in the Residence's living room. She was still in her work clothes, gray slacks and a loosely fitting blouse with a few a buttons at the top. Trying to relax, she'd already slipped off her heels and undid a few buttons, revealing bit of cleavage. When Fitz arrived, she was sitting on the couch watching the news.

"Hi, baby," she greeted him with a smile.

He removed his jacket tossing it over a chair and threw his shoes in the corner of the room. "Hi," he replied with exhaustion evident in his voice.

She could tell that he probably hadn't had the best of days. His bad mood was palpable in the room. He sat down on the couch. Olivia motioned for him to put his legs in her lap. She rubbed his feet, before asking him about his day. He relayed the conversation he had with Mellie just a few minutes prior.

"I just can't believe her sometimes," he stated.

Olivia sat quietly. She couldn't tell if he wanted her input or just needed to vent. She just let him talk and lead the conversation.

She was looking at him intently.

"What?" Fitz questioned. "Do you think I am being unreasonable?" he asked, wanting to know her thoughts.

Generally, Olivia learned to stay out of all of Fitz and Mellie's personal endeavors. She didn't want to sway his opinions, so she typically didn't give them unless asked.

"I don't know, Fitz. If you're not comfortable with it, then it should stay as is."

Fitz wasn't satisfied with this response. He wanted someone to firmly agree with him, to take his side.

"So are you saying I should be comfortable with it?"

"What? No. I'm saying, if you don't think it's a good idea, then you should keep the schedule the same." She said, basically repeating her previous statement.

"Do you think I'm wrong? Do you think he should go?"

She felt slightly uncomfortable. On the one hand, she completely agreed with Fitz and realized the intricacies of the agreement were in place for a reason. On the other hand, it was just one weekend. What if Fitz needed to swap days because of work or because he wanted to do something with Teddy during the week? She didn't know if she should be honest about her torn thoughts or agree with him to make him feel better.

She chose the former. "Honestly, I don't know. I understand where you're coming from. I'd be annoyed too if I were in your position, but it's just a weekend. She's given a few weeks in advance. It shouldn't be too hard of an accommodation," she said nervously.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Liv?" he asked in a calm voice.

Getting defensive because of his use of profanity, she moved his foot off of her lap. "You asked me what I thought. This is what I think!" she replied, her voice raising an octave.

"So you're saying, you think he should go?"

"No, Fitz. I'm saying I see both sides. I don't know what you want me to say." She replied. Feeling pressure, she placated him. "No, he shouldn't go. You should see him on the weekend as planned," she said in an unconvincing manner.

Fitz sighed and shook his head, thinking.

"Honestly, I don't want to have this discussion. We've spent way too much of our relationship arguing over your ex-wife. And I'm not doing it tonight," she stated firmly.

Not wanting to fight with her and exhausted thinking about the situation, he switched gears.

"How'd your meeting with Davis go?"

She was becoming more annoyed at his mention of her ex-fiancé, Edison Davis. "It wasn't a meeting with Edison. It was a meeting with the Intel committee on my client's behalf," she corrected.

She continued, "It was fine, very brief."

Taking in her appearance, he stated, "Well, I'm sure he loved getting to see you and the fact that your tits made an appearance," he said coldly, pointing to her chest.

"FITZ!" she shouted, offended and annoyed. "Do NOT. Start this," she demanded. "I…" she started, but she couldn't find the words. "If you are seriously under the impression that I would walk into a Senate Subcommittee meeting with my breasts out…I can't even believe you would think…" she replied, getting off of the couch, buttoning her shirt.

Fitz knew he was wrong, but he was having the day from hell, and someone was going to feel the brunt of it. He'd gotten a lot better with his temper, but every now and again it would make an appearance whether it was warranted or not.

"Did you give him a solid opinion, or was it indecisive, half-ass thoughts?" he asked, referencing their previous custody conversation.

"What the hell is wrong with you tonight? If you really want my opinion about the custody situation, I say get the fuck over it and figure it out. It's not that hard. It's a switch of a few damn days," she stated harshly and left the room.

* * *

Olivia walked into her apartment and looked at her surroundings. Even though she barely lived there, it still felt like home and brought her small comfort. At this point, she was normally only there to pick up a few things to bring to the White House, but after her fight with Fitz, she figured she'd stay to give them some space.

After she stormed out of the room during their fight, they still spent the night together. They didn't talk much or cuddle in bed, but they were with each other. She had an early meeting the next morning, so she left the Residence much earlier than normal. She made sure Fitz knew she was leaving and departed abruptly. Fitz called her a couple of times during the day, but she missed them because of meetings. She honestly was not trying to avoid him. She planned to call him during her commute home, but instead she spoke with Stephanie to make sure her agenda was in order. Stepping foot inside of her apartment was the first free minute she had all day.

She checked her personal email for the first time that day as she sat on the couch with her Ipad.

She had two messages from Fitz. The first read, "Will you be at the Residence tonight?" A follow up email contained, "Chef Brinkley is making Tuna Steak!

She smiled at that last email because they had previously joked that tuna steaks were for cats after being served them at a campaign event on the trail.

She honestly wasn't that mad at Fitz. Her feelings were slightly hurt, but she, more than anyone else, knew how Fitz operated. He was human; he lashed out when he was frustrated, and though his frustration didn't excuse his behavior, she accepted it as a part of his personality. Sometimes she could ignore it, and other times, like last night, she could not tolerate it.

However, she believed that he was clearly upset with her for not giving him sound advice, for minimizing his feelings. Reading those emails, she realized that he'd either gotten over it or wasn't as angry with her as she thought.

As she picked up her phone to call him, there was a knock at her door. She looked through the peep hole and saw Fitz surrounded by Secret Service agents.

She opened the door, surprised. "What are you doing here?" she questioned.

"Coming to either pick you up or stay here with you. Your choice," he stated with a smile as he walked inside.

"Fitz, I…" She started. "I was actually just about to call you. I was going to come over."

"So you're not mad at me?" he questioned,

"No. Not really. That conversation last night was" She paused, shaking her head, rolling her eyes, and trying to gather her words.

"I'm not mad. It hurt my feelings, I guess…but I'm fine," she said, trying to figure out her thoughts. "I thought _you_ were mad at _me_. You didn't even attempt to touch me last night," she stated with a hint of sadness.

"I know," he sighed, feeling embarrassed. "I was an ass. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Liv. It's just, you know how the kid stuff gets to me, and work has been disaster after disaster and…." He looked truly pained by the idea of hurting her feelings.

They were still standing by the door. She leaned up to kiss him, cutting him off, not wanting to rehash their conversation, whether it was incomplete or not. The kiss was far more fervent than she'd anticipated.

Refusing to remove his lips from hers, he picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He moved them to her couch and sat them down so that she straddled his legs.

She broke the kiss for a moment, needing to adjust on his lap. "I couldn't stop thinking about you today," he admitted against her lips.

She wanted him.

Sitting on his lap, she removed her shirt from over head, reached behind her to unclasp her bra and tossed the garments on the floor in record speed. She stood to remove her pants and underwear just as rapidly, not particularly in the mood for foreplay. Sensing her urgency, he stood to quickly remove his clothes with her help. He gathered her in his arms and pulled her back down to his lap. He maneuvered her so that she was seated perfectly on his dick. She whimpered at the contact and rested her hands on his shoulders.

Fitz was always putty in her hands in this position. She set the rhythm, grinding steadily on his dick, moving back and forth on his member. "Is this what you've been thinking about all day?" she asked mischievously. He groaned in response.

It was her turn to play 21 questions with him. "Do you like it when I ride you, baby?" she questioned seductively. He moved her closer to him as if to answer her yes.

He rested his hands firmly on her hips and looked up at her. She was so beautiful. She was working her so hard for him, but he wanted more. " Bounce. Bounce on it," he instructed in a raspy voice.

She followed his orders, alternating between moving back and forth and bouncing up and down his shaft. "Just like that," he encouraged. She moved her hands from his shoulders to his neck to kiss him, pushing her tongue rather forcefully in his mouth, but he sucked on it gladly.

She pulled away from his mouth. "Is it tight enough for you, Mr. President?" she asked in a whisper as she skillfully rode him.

He kissed her to keep her quiet. He would finish too soon if she kept asking him questions. He moved his hands from her hips to her bottom. Her ass felt so perfect in his hands. He couldn't help but squeeze it and slap it lightly.

Wanting to give him a better view of her ass, Olivia unexpectedly removed herself from Fitz's lap, stood up and turned around. Fitz groaned at the loss of contact, as Olivia moved to a new position. With her back toward him, she slowly seated herself back down on his dick with his guidance. He moved his face against the side of her neck and kissed her, as she continued to move back and forth, up and down his member.

Grunting in her ear, he moved his hands to her breasts, squeezing them, pulling at her nipples. It was driving her crazy. "Fitz," she called out to him in a breathy voice.

She moved his hand between her thighs, guiding him to stroke her. "There. Right there, Fitz," she said in a pitch unrecognizable to them both, as he rubbed and flicked her clit. She moved her hands to hold his thighs for balance. He stroked her clit relentlessly until she finally came, "FITZ, baby, baby, FITZ, god," she screamed. Following suit, he grabbed her tightly around her waist, and leaned into her back, grunting, as he too reached his peak.

* * *

They settled in her living room after a joint shower. Fitz changed into a pair of his sweat pants and a t-shirt Olivia had lifted from his place. She wore silk pajama shorts, and a fitted "Grant for President" campaign t-shirt. After going through Olivia's extensive collection of takeout menus, they'd decided to keep it simple, cliché and order Chinese.

Getting take out for the president at his girlfriend's place was far more of an ordeal than Olivia could have imagined. Instead of the delivery person coming to her door, the delivery person left the food with the doorman, the doorman left the food with SS Tom who would deliver the items to Fitz and Olivia. When they heard Tom's knock on the door, Fitz hopped up from the couch to answer it.

"Fitz!" Olivia yelled and got up after him. "You can't just answer my door. That's not safe."

"It's fine, babe. It's Tom," He said as he checked the peep hole. But instead of allowing Tom to simply hand him the food and step back inside, Fitz went out in the hall for a few moments. Olivia thought it was a little odd at first, but simply brushed it off. Fitz was probably giving Tom instructions for the morning, as they were slated to spend the night at her place.

They opted to sit on her living room floor enjoying a smorgasbord of Asian food that would surely give them a stomach ache, food coma or both.

They'd finish eating, and Fitz stayed seated on the floor while Olivia cleaned up their mess. In the interim, he grabbed his phone and started opening apps before landing on Words With Friends, also known as his Karen game. He only enjoyed playing it with his daughter because they were so far away.

Returning to the living room, she settled beside him and placed her head on his shoulders before asking, "What are you doing?"

"Playing my Karen game," he responded. Olivia smiled and replied, "I think you and Karen are the only people still addicted to that game."

He looked down at her, "Is it uncool now? What are the kids playing these days?" he questioned. Before she could answer, he continued, "I don't care. I'm damned good at it."

"Cocky." She said with a laugh. "I bet I could beat you. I was always good at Scrabble.

"Liv, you've mentioned this before, but I'm may need you to show and prove before I believe you."

"Show and prove?" she questioned. "I have that game; I will destroy you at Scrabble." She said with a smile.

"Oh, really? We'll see. Go get it."

Olivia hopped up, ran to a spare closet and found it. In Olivia Pope fashion, it wasn't just the standard game board. Instead, she placed the deluxe version, which included a board attached to a wood cabinet with wood-grain finish, on her coffee table.

"I need concentration materials," she said as she grabbed a bottle of wine, two glasses and turned on a Duke Ellington record, one that always reminded her of Fitz.

Smiling, she was ready for game play. She set up the board and they started. Thirty minutes later, however, Olivia was losing by 37 points. She looked at her tiles and back up on the board.

As she contemplated her next word, Fitz noticed the letters on his tile rack, and his heart started racing. With an existing letter already on the board, he needed one letter, an "**L**," to spell the perfect word. He could not believe his luck; he was about to win by a long shot.

His rack displayed: **LTIAPU**.

Olivia was finally ready to make a word and was disappointed in the 10 point word **GRAPE**.

It was Fitz's turn, and he was almost ready. "Baby, could you get me another glass of water?" he asked sweetly, trying to cover up his nerves.

She gave him a look, but moved to retrieve it any way. Before leaving she took a close look at the board. "Don't you cheat, mister!" she stated adamantly.

He smiled back at her, but as soon she was out of eyesight, he dug through the tile bag to find another "**L**." Fitz could not have been more thankful for her fancy Scrabble set, because it distributed more of each letter.

She returned and handed him a glass of water. She sat back down ready for him to make his word. He moved to the board with his letters and spelled **WILLU** with an existing "**W**" at play.

Olivia looked at the board. "W-I-L-L-U. Fitz, I told you about making up words. Is this one of your German words?" she asked playfully.

Fitz seemed to stand by his word.

She phrased the letters together, trying to think of the word. "Wi-llu, Willu, Will-u," she pronounced, still a little confused. She repeated the last word again. "Will-u, Will-u" she said, trying to think of the meaning of that word. Finally gathering that it was a phrase and not a word, she stated, "Oh! 'Will U' like 'Will you?'"

"You can't do phrases, babe. We've talked about this," she stated with a smirk. Shaking her head incredulously at his game tactics, she repeated, "Will you."

"Marry me," he finished, pulling a ring box deep out of his pants pocket.

Shocked, she gasped loudly.

"Will you marry me, Olivia?"

She put her hands to her face, covering her nose and mouth. She was utterly stunned and confused into silence.

"Fitz." She finally managed to get out. She shook her head in agreement profusely, finally shouting "YES!"

She almost knocked him over trying to reach him. She threw herself into his body, hugging him tightly around the neck and kissing his face all over. "Yes, I'll marry you," she said, and she couldn't help the tears from forming in her eyes.

"You will?" he asked as if there could be a question in her mind. "Of course, Fitz. Yes!" she said excitedly.

He could not believe his luck. He didn't have a plan. He only had a ring. He'd been carrying it around, more specifically; Tom had been carrying it around for weeks. When it wasn't in Tom's possession it was stored at the back of his bedside table. He'd been waiting for the ideal moment. When he came over to Olivia's place that night, he had no real intention to pop the question. At this point, carrying the ring around was almost a formality. It wasn't until their shower that he realized tonight was the night.

He was working on instinct. He knew that he could retrieve the ring from Tom during the exchange of Chinese food. The Scrabble game was mere coincidence, luck, fate maybe. Absolutely nothing about their relationship had gone as planned. Almost everything about their timing was off, which was what made this moment of impeccable timing so much more special.

He placed the custom Martin Katz, cushion-cut diamond ring on her finger, shaking in the process. He was so inexplicably nervous, yet unbelievably happy. He looked up at her after placing the ring on her finger, astonished that what they'd spent years fantasizing about was finally becoming a reality.

He moved them from the floor back to the couch with her settling in his lap.

"How did you do this?" "Where did that ring come from?" she asked in wonderment.

He explained the Tom situation and the luck of the game. She sat on his lap awestruck at the occurrence.

He kissed her softly and moved her so that she rested on her back with him on top of her. He smiled down at her and said, "The day that I met you, I told you that I'd be lucky to have you, and I can't think of a bigger understatement. I love you, Olivia Carolyn Pope."

"And I love you, my sweet, sweet, handsome fiancé." She said gleefully with teary eyes.

She took his lips in hers and they spent the rest of their night on her couch, wrapped up in each other, simply kissing for hours like innocent sixth grade children.

* * *

**AN: So they have a sappy engagement, which was partly inspired by board game themed weddings I've seen on Pinterest! Lots of stuff happened in this chapter. A fight, which was kind of unresolved, sexy time, a proposal. As for the Mellie situation, do you think Fitz was being unreasonable? How will their relationship change now that they're engaged? I don't know yet! **


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: So this will be the last chapter in this story. It's an epilogue of sorts! There's a jump in time. **

* * *

After a few rounds of golf with the former Secretary of Defense, Fitz was eager to enter his home and relax for the evening. When he last spoke to Olivia, she'd mentioned that she wanted grilled chicken. He had requested that she pick up meat to grill from Whole Foods, and he would set up an impromptu barbecue. The sun was finally setting and the summer heat was dying down. He was interested in seeing her selections, but more excited to see his wife of almost one year.

"Liv," he called as he entered the foyer, hanging his keys on the key rack.

"In the kitchen," he heard her say.

Walking into the kitchen, he was surprised to see their counters full of groceries. Not only did Olivia hate grocery shopping, but they were also stocked up on most food items.

"Babe, are we expecting guests? Is there a feast I should know about?"

"Well, I went to pick up steaks and chicken, and I was so hungry, I didn't have time for lunch. Everything just looked so good,"

Examining what she purchased, "Pizza rolls? Pop Tarts? Really, Liv?" he asked.

"Have you had them? Jerry left some in the freezer the last time he was here, and I tried them, and babe, they're not that bad,"

He shook his head and moved to help her put the groceries away. "We've talked about the skipping meals thing. Liv c'mon," he said.

She shot him a look, and he changed the subject "How was your day?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"I asked didn't I?"

She shot him another look. Feeling a little winded, she sat on a bar stool and leaned on the island.

"Well, it turns out Senator Carson lied about extorting votes. They found email proof. So that has set us back so far. I'm thinking about dropping him. He's the worst."

Thinking about his time working with Carson, Fitz added, "He's awful. I You know, hearing about the guys on the Hill doesn't make me miss the White House," he said with a smile. It had been a year and a half since his term ended, and he couldn't be more thankful to see it pass.

"Yeah, well, they miss you. That's all I hear when I go to the Hill. 'The Dems are taken over. We need Grant back," she said, imitating congressmen's voices.

He finished putting away the last of the groceries and moved to stand in front of her.

"So, bad day at the office."

"Horrible day at the office," she corrected. "And babe, I'm not going back to the grocery store AGAIN, at least no time soon. That was just a disaster. Stephanie will have to do it from here on out"

He laughed at her dramatics, "Well, it couldn't have been that bad. It looks like you bout Whole Foods in its entirety.

"If you call vomiting in a public bathroom stall, 'not that bad,' then I'd agree.

He moved closer to her, "Livvie, are you okay? I thought you moved past that already."

"It's fine, Fitz. It was the damned seafood section! It smells horrible. My stomach turned at the first whiff of it."

He smiled and rubbed her belly which at five months pregnant was now rounding out nicely ."Baby just doesn't like the smell of sea creatures," she said with a smile rubbing her belly with him. He kissed her softly on the lips. She breathed him in, normally loving the smell of him and his cologne. She pushed him away, feeling slightly nauseous. "I'm sorry, but Baby doesn't like the smell of your cologne right now either."

He chuckled. "Why don't I go shower and wash this cologne and golf sweat off of me, then I'll start the grill. She shook her head and agreement, leaned in to kiss him one more time, despite his smell, pecked him quickly, and then made a face, repulsed by his cologne.

When Fitz exited their bedroom, he heard voices coming from the kitchen. As he made his way to the kitchen he was greeted by their neighbors Annette and Mark Thompson. He was surprised yet happy to see them. Their neighborhood in Falls Church, Virginia was lovely. The community was nice and warm, but also gave him and Olivia space to be a normal family. They could typically go to the grocery story without being bothered. They could go to restaurants without much trouble now that he was a former president. Mark and Annette were examples of how friendly their community was. When Fitz and Olivia moved a few doors down from them, they became quick friends. Annette was an Engineer and new mom. Olivia and Annette took a quick liking to each other. Mark was a partner at one of DC's top law firms. Similarly, Fitz and Mark bonded over their love of golf and True Crime fiction.

"Grant!" Mark greeted him, enthusiastically,

"Thompson, Annette, how's it going?"

"Good," Annette spoke for both of them. We were just stopping by to drop off the spare clubs you loaned Mark, and I wanted to drop of these onesies for Olivia."

"Thanks for the clubs, Grant. You were right. They were perfect for my swing."

"No problem. It's good to see you both. Liv and I have been so busy with the work and the kids, I feel like we haven't seen you months. Why don't you stay for dinner?"

They couple agreed and while Mark and Fitz grilled. Annette and Olivia sat on their plush patio furniture and caught up.

"If one more person says to me 'sleep while you can,' I think I might just punch them, or 'you're getting so big.' Really, shit- for-brains, I'm creating someone else's organs here, of course I'm getting bigger. And thanks for the reminder that I look like the Michelin Man,"

Annette laughed at Olivia's rant having felt the same way during her pregnancy. Olivia continued. "I busted another blouse today, by the way. You should have seen me. I was trying to pull those two sides together so hard," she said, miming pulling a shirt together. "I finally managed to get it buttoned, only for it fly off seconds later," she said with a laugh. "And that was a maternity shirt! I feel like the Hulk!"

Laughing Annette asked, "Aside from fashion troubles, are you feeling okay, Liv?"

"I feel fine. I'm a little sensitive to smell, but we're doing great. You know we wanted to wait until our anniversary to find out the gender. We had our OB seal the sex in envelope, and we're going to open it this weekend," she said excitedly.

"Oh that's fun! We were so excited to find out the sex. It makes shopping so much more fun."

Olivia rolled her eyes at the mention of shopping, "I think Fitz has purchased every baby product in the history of baby products. And multiples of everything. He thinks we're turning OPA into a nursery,"

"That's sweet," Annette said.

Turning to look at Fitz for a moment, "He's so sweet and so good at this. I'm perpetually a ball of nerves or frustrated, and he's so patient," Olivia complimented.

Fitz and Mark joined Olivia and Annette. They enjoyed dinner and the ambiance of Fitz and Olivia's backyard, which was warmly lit. After a few hours, Mark and Annette departed their spontaneous dinner leaving Fitz and Olivia in the kitchen cleaning up. Fitz loaded the dishwasher while Olivia rummaged their pantry for dessert. She settled on her newly purchased Pop Tarts and Cool-Whip.

He looked at her snack with disgust. Noticing his contempt, "I can't help it. I'm every pregnant stereotype," she said pouting, moving take a seat on the bar stool.

He moved to her and kissed her pouted lips softly. "You're _my_ pregnant stereotype."

She pulled away from him and he continued cleaning.

"So I've decided on a pediatrician," she stated confidently.

"_You've_ decided?"he questioned, not able to hide his annoyance.

"Yes, I've decided," she said, not picking up on his demeanor. She continued, "I've decided on Dr. Peterson. I really like her, and I loved her staff. She's the one. Also, I've talked to my staff, and I've decided on a six month maternity leave, with the possibility of a six month extension."

"_You've_ decided this, too. Well, at least you got OPA's input," he said even more irritated.

Finally picking up on his annoyance, she questioned "What, Fitz? You said that I needed to decide on a maternity leave plan and potential doctors last week."

"No. I said _we_ need to decide, as in the both of us."

Genuinely confused, she stated, "Well, I'm not sure why you would need to decide on my maternity leave."

"I'm not saying that I need to decide. As your husband, I feel like you should value my input," he said.

"I do value your input, but Fitz I don't understand how my work schedule affects you to such an extent that I would need to check in with you about it. It's not like it will have any financial repercussions.

"Your work schedule will affect both our baby and our marriage, so excuse me for wanting to have a discussion about it before you make unilateral decisions for us. If I decided that I was going on a month long speaking tour, and I didn't talk to you first because it wasn't going to affect us financially, you would be livid."

Thinking about his statement for a moment, she said, "Fitz, that's not the same. I'm not planning on leaving you. I'm planning on staying here. For an extended period of time I might add. Is it not long enough? Am I supposed to wait until the baby is in Kindergarten? Is this what this is about? Good moms don't leave their babies after six months to a year. Is that what you're trying to insinuate?" She was starting to tear up; she was getting abnormally emotional.

Feeling guilty seeing her with watery eyes, Fitz started, "What? Livvie, no! Let's reel it in. I'm not insinuating anything. You know I don't feel that way. I'm simply saying that I would like to be in the decision process on things that regard our family, our baby. How you manage to turn this around on me, I don't know."

Rubbing her belly, she asked "Can we just table this for now. I want to work on the baby's room before bed."

Her nesting had taken over and she couldn't resist spending most her free time fixing, and rearranging the nursery. She moved slowly to exit the kitchen and made her way upstairs to their newly painted gender neutral nursery. She moved around the room before sitting crossed-leg on the floor looking at all the items the baby had already. They hadn't even had their first baby shower. Their baby was already so loved and well taken care of. She couldn't imagine how spoiled he or she would be once they came into the world. Aside from her goddaughter Ella and occasionally Teddy, Olivia didn't have too much experience with babies. She certainly didn't have experience with baby accessories. She examined play sets and baby furniture. She honestly didn't know what some of this stuff was. Fitz caught her staring at one of the baby's belongings in the door way.

"I was thinking you could keep that one in your office," Fitz suggested, scaring her in the process.

"Geez, Fitz! How long have you been lurking there?" she asked turning to face him.

"I didn't mean to scare you. Not long." He continued, "Since we already have two here and one for Vermont, I figured you could keep that in your office."

"What is it?" She asked, feeling a little silly that she didn't know what it was.

He smiled, "It's a portable swing. You just have to put the car seat in it."

"Oh. It looks like baby exercise equipment."

Laughing he made his way inside and sat down beside her. "We're not getting rid of future chubster's chunky thighs so soon." Pointing to crib, he asked, "Did you try the baby monitor? I set it up this morning."

"I did!" she said excitedly. "I can't believe there are video baby monitors. It makes me feel a lot better about the baby sleeping in here alone," she admitted. They decided against co-sleeping unless the baby seemed to need it. Olivia was a bit nervous about it, but Fitz seemed to think it was a good idea.

"You know, if you keeping buying stuff, we're going to need two nurseries," she said.

"That's not a bad idea," he contemplated.

"We don't have enough room, and we agreed that we're not moving. At least not for another year," she said adamantly. They compromised on the size of their home. Fitz wanted something massive, a compound of sorts. Olivia wanted something livable. They settled on a 3,500 square feet home, which they both adored. It was also close enough to Olivia's job and Teddy's school in DC, but it offered a piece of suburbia.

"I can't wait to find out the sex," she said excitedly.

"I know. A few more days," he said turning to take her lips in his. He deepened it, and it was the longest they'd kissed all day. He eased his tongue in his mouth, and she, without fail, gladly accepted it.

She broke their kiss for a moment. "I should have talked to you about the pediatrician and maternity leave before deciding. It's just…At the time, it didn't seem like that big of a deal. I do respect and value your opinions."

Her insistence on making decisions for both of them bothered him to no end, but it was hard to stay mad her when she was so adorably pregnant. He kissed her again and rubbed her belly.

"I'm ready for bed," she said with a yawn. Fitz quickly helped her up and ushered her to their bedroom. Fitz changed quickly and rested shirtless against their headboard while Olivia entered their bathroom to prepare for bed. She exited the bathroom wearing a silk chemise. Maybe it was the increased estrogen, but Olivia was extra confident and extraordinarily eager for sex in this trimester. To Fitz's surprise, she waltzed over to him, hopped on the bed, and climbed on top of him, straddling him.

"I don't know why I'm wearing this silly thing because all I want is for you to take it off," she said in a low tone.

He chuckled and rested his hands on her waist. "Well, that's funny because all I want to do is take it off," he stated before reaching up to help her remove it.

She sat completely naked on top of him. Instead of placing his hands back on her waist, he moved further down the bed and put his hands behind his head, taking her in fully. He couldn't explain how unbelievably breathtaking he found her at this stage of her life. He was also grateful that, at this point of her pregnancy, she'd embraced most of her body changes. She looked so comfortable on top of him. She caressed his chest and grazed his abs lightly. She was just as in awe of his body, even after all of these years, "You're like a Ken doll," she said with a smile before leaning down to kiss him softly on the lips.

She reached to grab his hand from behind his head and placed it on her breast, silently pleading for him to caress her. He obliged her unspoken desire and kneaded her breasts softly, fully aware of how sensitive they were. "Fitz," she cried out to him, grinding slowly on his growing erection which was still covered by his pajama pants. She moved to slide his pants down until he was able to kick them off. She glided on his dick, giving him a tease of her wetness before seating herself fully on it. She stilled on his member, trying to prolong their union. These days it only took a few of Fitz's powerful thrusts before she experienced some of the most extreme orgasms she'd ever had. But Fitz didn't have as much patience as she did. He put his hands on her ass and attempted to move her forward to create some motion, "Beautiful, please," He begged her. Knowing what he wanted, she shook her head in agreement, and moved slowly on his member. She leaned down to capture his lips, sliding her tongue in his mouth. "Oh, Fitz," she said in a breath after pulling away from his lips.

Trying to make sure she was comfortable, he asked, as he tried to meet her movements, "Is it okay? You feel okay?"

"It feels so good, baby. You feel so perfect."

He reached between them to massage her clit softly, which was what she needed to send her to her breaking point. "FITZ!" she screamed, grabbing his hands in hers, needing something to grasp as one of the most forceful orgasms yet overtook her body. A few moments later, Fitz reached his peak. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her while he came inside of her. After they both settled, he scooted up the bed with her so that he could rest his back further on the headboard.

These intense orgasms didn't come without consequence. Olivia felt her stomach harden as a set of cramps set in. The pain was evident in her face before she could make a sound. "Oww! Oww!" she exclaimed before burying her head in Fitz's neck. Her cramps had become all too common, so Fitz instinctively held her and rubbed her back for comfort. As they eased up, she moved her head to face him. "You okay, Livvie?" he asked as soon as her eyes meet his. She shook her head yes and pecked his lips. She smiled before saying, "That was sooo good, Fitz. I thought I was going to cry." He couldn't help but laugh at her. He loved how much she was still enjoying sex and basked in it because he figured it wouldn't last much longer.

* * *

The weekend had finally come. It was their one year anniversary, and they were beyond thrilled to find out the sex of their baby. Olivia was so giddy. Fitz hadn't seen her this happy since they found out they had conceived. Getting pregnant was easier than they both planned on, and they were both relieved to avoid the stress of infertility. Olivia wanted to keep it simple, so they were spending the weekend in Vermont. With Teddy being in school and Olivia's job, they didn't get to come here as often as they would like. They were last in Vermont for Christmas. Fitz wanted to make everything comfortable for her, so he made sure the house was utterly spotless and that their kitchen was stocked with everything she loved and all the food she generally craved. As soon as they entered their home, she dropped her purse on their couch and made a beeline to the bathroom and then zipped straight to the kitchen. To Fitz's surprise, she grabbed a healthy snack of blueberries. Instead of sitting in the kitchen, however, she moved to sit at their piano. He moved to sit beside her on the piano bench, sharing her blueberries.

Neither Fitz nor Olivia was proficient at the instrument, but they knew enough to play a tune. Fitz attempted "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" using left hand notes while Olivia helped with the right hand notes. He started to make up a song vaguely in the tune, "Baby, we're just over the moon/to get to and meet you soon" Olivia laughed at his impromptu song, but he continued, " Sorry mommy keeps eating weird stuff/like ranch dressing with cheese puffs."

"Hey! I'm eating fruit now." She playfully protested, ending their piano song. He turned to kiss her quickly. "Yeah and an hour from now, you're going to want to a corn dog with balsamic dressing," he joked.

"I'm not _that_ bad," she said feigning hurt.

"No, you're not that bad," he stated to appease her.

"What do you have planned of us?" she asked.

"We have a reservation at that Italian restaurant you love in town, and the rest is a surprise,"

She was more so concerned with the gender reveal. "But when will we find out if Baby is a boy or a girl?" she asked anxiously.

"I was thinking over dinner, but…"

She cut him off. "Fitz, I can't wait that long," She checked her watch. "That's in like 5 hours. Can we just open it?" she asked nervously, grabbing his hand.

Feeling just as anxious as she was, he shook his head in agreement. Olivia hopped off the bench and grabbed her purse. She retrieved the envelope with shaky hands. She handed it to Fitz to open, but watched closely over his shoulder. He stood and opened the envelope slowly, careful not to cause any major rips in the paper. He finally opened and unfolded the note, which read, **"Congrats, Grants! You're having a girl**!"

"We're having a girl!" Olivia exclaimed.

Fitz turned to face her and grabbed her around the waist. "It's a girl, Livvie," he stated softly, rubbing her belly. She released a breathe, relieved to know that she was carrying a girl.

Her eyes started to water, "I can't believe this is happening. Us. This baby. We have _homes_, plural, together. I never thought we'd get here."

"Believe it, baby. This year has brought us so much joy and happiness, and I can't wait to have many more with you. Happy Anniversary."

She leaned up and grabbed his face with her hands. "Happy Anniversary," she stated and then kissed him soundly on the lips.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading and reviewing! I wish I could continue, but I have so much school work, I could cry at the thought of it. Hope y'all enjoyed! **


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